Willow Elementary

I have been going to this school my whole life. The teachers are absolutely amazing and the administrative staff are so caring and helpful. I feel strongly that I am doing well in my acedemics. For the first few years of Sunrise (preschool and kindergarten) you focus on emotions and how to honor them as well as grace and courtesy, and you set foot into the world of math, science and literature. During the elementary years, you get more in-depth with those subjects while making friends along the way. In 2020, when covid started, we did everything on zoom and the teachers handled it really well and the students continued learning as much as in the classroom. Sunrise has been more than a school to me. It’s my home. I would DEFINITELY recommend this school to anyone looking for a safe, inclusive and kind learning environment.

Beautiful grounds, caring staff. Some great families. This Lutheran institution falls on the far right of the Lutheran Synod's community and is very public about its beliefs. Families choose this school for this reason and the community reflects this socially. Discipline is high on the priority list here so if your children need discipline this might be a fit. A lot of the kids have behavior issues. Strict rules attract children with behavior issues. We didn't need this. Also, loose-rule schools attract kids with behavior issues. The balance is what we need.Religion is taught daily as is Medieval History from K-8th. The school marketing touts innovation and Science and STEM but only offers one Science Fair and Science assemblies that display fancy sensationalized Science shows once or twice a year in K-5 instruction. Students in the K-5 and even upper grades do not know how to think with the Scientific method but can copy it from a book or written instructions. Worksheets are utilized greatly here. St John is a rigid institution with outdated teaching methods and materials which will likely cause problems for students moving into a modern career era that is booming with more tech ..even in farming and winemaking. Writing is not explicitly taught (as in kids in upper grades don't know the different types of essay writing formats, but at least Grammar is taught) Math is taught well using the algorithmic method which I have no gripe about at the K-5 stage. The families are wonderful in the community. But they are not in charge and cannot steer change nor advocate for what their children need except through their parent school group that raises money for the school on the sidelines. The church runs the school and with less than 5% of the school attending this church, improvements will be difficult to leverage. We are leaving this school and will home-school or go back to public school and hire home-school hybrid educational specialist services. We are a family in high-tech and medical fields as doctors and engineers and want our children to learn to accept people with differences, to learn how to think critically, and to be able to problem solve in school. We wish all the families at St. John the best, especially the parent group trying to shift positive change for students at this school!